Type-writing machine.



No. 796,092`.4 PATBNTBD AUGJ, m05.'

G. A. SEIB.

' TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

ArrLronIoN FILED nx.1a.19o5. i asuma-snm 2.

HIS TTDFQNE'Y No. 796,092. a .PATENTED AUG. 1, 1905.

v G. A. SEIB. l

TYPE WRITING MACHINE. ARPLIU'ATION Hmm 11.13.13.1995.

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I v/ y M v E TTKDH'NSY UNITED STATES GEORGE A. SEIB. YOE SPEiNGEIELn MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOE To UNION TYPEwEiTEE OOMPANY, OE. JERSEY TI'ON OF NEW JERSEY.

PATENT OEETOE. 'f

CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORA- TY'PE-WRITING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.V

' ratentea Aeg-1, 1905.

Application iiled March 13, 1905. Serial No. 249,848.

To a/ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. SETE, a citi- Zen of the United States, and a resident ofv Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented cer- Specification.

My inventionrelates to type-writing machines, and more particularlyto indicating mechanism therefor and by which an indicator may be automaticallymoved to the indicating position and may be permitted to move away from the indicating position when desired without disconnecting the parts and while the platen remains in the swung-back position to expose the writing.

l' To the above and other ends, which will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the features of construction, arrangements of parts,and combinations of devices to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like lreference characters indicate corresponding parts in the various views, Figure 1 is a `fragmentary vertical'sectional view through the upper portion of a bottom-strike typewriting machine, showing one form of construction embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a like view of the same, showing the platen swung back and theprinting-point indicator in the indicating position, the platen being swung back from. the upper-case position. Fig. 3 is a like view of the same, showing the platen swung back from the lower-case position. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevation, partly in section, showing the platen swung back to expose the writing and the printingpoint indicator in the indicating position. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the printing-point indicator and portions of its cooperating actu-- ating devices. Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic side vview of the construction, and Fig. 7'is an enlarged fragmentary plan view showing the cooperating friction devices at the left-hand end of the carriage.

The top plate 1 of the machine supports a rail 2, that has oppositely-disposed grooves 3 with which antifriction guide-rollersl 4 coperate. The rollers 4 are carried by a carriagetruck 5, provided at its ends with forwardlyextending arms 6, to which guide-links 7 are pivoted, as indicated at'S. rlhe upper ends of i these guidelinks receive a shaft 9, which extends through the end plates 10 of the platenframe and through a hollow cross rod or bar -11, the outer ends. of the shaft 9 extending through and beyond the links 7 and into spaces between set-screws 12 and the fixed shoulders 12a, which constitute stops to limit the forward-and-baok movement of the shaft 9 and the parts connected thereto in order to limit the shifting movement of the platen for upper and lower case writing.

. The shaft 9 and the bearings therefor constitute pivotal connections by which the platenframe, made up of the rear cross-bar 11, end plates 10, and front cross-bar 13, with a platen 14', may be swung from the normal or operative position (illustrated in Fig. 1) back `to the position illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, and 4 in order to expose the writing and to automatically bring the printing-point indicator 15 to the indicating position, as will hereinafter more fullyA appear. Extending forwardly from the front cross-bar 1'3 of the platen frame or carriage is a bracket 16, which constitutes a bearing for an antifriction-roller 17, which is received in an upper grooved face of a shift-rail 18. By shifting the rail backward and forward by any suitable shifting means the platen-frame and platen are moved on the link connections to the upper or lower case position and the platen is positioned to receive the impacts of the upper or lower case types on the type-bars. Secured to the bottom of the truck-rail 2 by means of screws 19 is a forwardly-projecting bracket-plate 20, the stems of the screws being-received between bifurcated arms 21 of the bracket- `rectangular open frame, through which the types are adapted tostrike when the printing-point indicator is in the normal or lowered position, where it is supported by the coverplate 23, that is carried by a fixed portion of the machine and extends over the inkingribbon: provided with an upwardly-bent outwardlyprojecting pointer 15a, that registers with the point on the paper that corresponds 4to the printing point when the platen is turned back by its finger-piece 24, as indicated in rI`he forward end ofthe indicator is pivot'ed at 34 to the bracket-plate 20.

Fig. 4, and this registration is effected whether the platen be turned back from the uppercase position, as indicated in Fig. 2, or from the lower-case position, as indicated in Fig. 3. Pivotally mounted and free to move on the shaft 9 are upright arms 25, one at each end of the platen-frame. The lower ends of these arms are connected by a cross-bar 26, so as to constitute a bail, which is carried by the carriage and adapted to swing fore and aft of the machine, said bar 26 being limited in its forward movement by the indicator coming into contact with the platen and in its rearward movement by one of the typebarhangers at, Fig. 1, with which the bar is adapted to be brought into contact. The upper ends of the arms 25 are formed as pl'ate-likeprojections 27, which extend above the shaft 9` and constitute friction devices that are adaptedy to cooperate with friction devicesA 28 atY each end of the platen-frame, and each of which consists of two slightlyresilient plates that are spaced apart by an interposed plate 30 to form-a bifurcation 29, the three plates being secured in place by headed screws 31, the stems of which pass through the plates and into the end plates 10 of'theplaten-frame. The cross-bar 26 of the actuator or bail is adapted to coperate with an upwardly-extending finger 32, which projects from a horizontally-disposed lever 33, T ie opposite end of this lever is connected at 35 to a link 36, the forward end of which is connected at 37 to an eye or ear that projects from the indicator l5 to one side of the pivot 22 thereof. A coiled spring 38 surrounds the pivot of the indicator, and one end of the spring bears against the indicator, whereas the opposite end bears against the bracketplate, so that the tension of the spring is exerted to force the indicator to the normal or lowermost position-(shown in Figs. l and 5) and to move the lever 32 to the position shown in said figures and from which it will be seen that there is normally a freedom of contact between the bar 26 and the finger 32, so as not to impede or interfere with the travel of the carriage.

In the operation of the device the platenframe is swungback to the full-line position, (indicated in Fig. 6,) and during this movement the indicator remains in the lowermost or non-indicating position and is not affected by the swinging movement of the platen. When, however, the platen-frame reaches the full-line position in Fig. 6, the friction devices 28 on the platen-frame are brought into coperation with the friction devices 27 on the actuator or bail, and the further rearward movement of the platen from the fullline to the dotted-line position (shown in Fig. 6) is effective to move the cross-bar of the actuator forward through the frictional con- :nections between the platen-frame and the actuator. This forward movement of the cross-bar exerts a pressure against the linger 32, which vibrates the lever 33 on its pivot, thereby pulling the link 36 toward the rear of the machine and moving the vibrator to the indicating position. The act of moving the platen-frame from the full-line position shown in Fig. 6 to that indicated in Fig. 3, for instance, is eHective to change the disposition between the friction devices on the platen-frame and those on the actuator, so that the slightest forward movement of the platen and platen-frame at this time is effective tolower the indicator to the lowermost position in order to enable the operator to remove the indicator from the indicating position and yet maintain the platen in the swung-back position to expose the writing and to enable erasures to be made without interference by the printing-point indicator.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that the printing-point indicator is not moved to the indicating positon until the platen is in substantially an upright or swung-back position or until the platen nearly reaches the backward position, and that the indicator may be moved back to the normal or lowermo'st position without effecting a disconnection between the indicator andits actuating means, and that this movement of the indicator back to the normal position may be effected while the platen it still maintained in position where it fully exposes the writing and where an erasure can be made without difficulty.

ln certain kinds of printing-point indicators heretofore devised, and more particularly those which employ springs to automatically move the indicator to the indicating position when the platen is swung back to expose the writing, considerable difficulty has been encountered by reason of the pointer at times engaging the paper-feed rollers during the swinging of the platen to the normal position and at tim'es interfering with the feed of the carriage by bearing thereon and by coming into contact with the paper-feeding devices during the travel of the carriage. rlhen, again, considerable difficulty has been experienced by the indicator contacting with the printed matter and blurring the imprint on the paper and by the sharp end of the' pointer engaging the paper and mutilating it. By the present invention these and other difficulties heretofore encountered in printing-point indicators are obviated.

While I have described one form of construction embodying my invention, it should be understood that various modications maybe made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Vhat l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is`

1. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a swinging platen, an indicator, and

cator by a swinging movement of the platen,

said means comprising an actuator, a bladei v like friction device and a coperating'bifurcated friction device cooperating therewith.

2. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a swinging platen, an indicator; and means for affording a movement of the indicator by a swinging movement of the platen, said means comprising a pivoted bail-like actuator for moving the indicator, a blade-like friction device that is carried by said actuator, and friction-plates between which said blade-like friction device is received and with which it coperates to move the bail.

3. In atype-writing machine, the combination of a swinging platen-frame, a platen carried thereby, friction-plates that are spaced apart and are carried by the platen- Y ,frame at each end thereof, a pivoted indicator, an actuator therefor; and blade-like friction devices carried at opposite ends of the actuator and `which-are received between the friction-plates on the platen-frame and are moved bysaid frame to operate the actuator.

4. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a swinging platen-frame, a platen carried thereby, friction-plates carried by said platen -frame, a bail pivoted to the platen-frame and the ends of which form friction plates or blades that are received b etween and pressed on opposite sides by the friction-plates on the platen-frame, and an indicator pivoted to a xed portion of the machine and which is operated by said bail.

5. In a type-writingmachine, the combination of a swinging platen-frame, a platen carried thereby, friction-plates secured directly to said platen-frame, a bail pivoted to the platen-frame and the ends of which form friction plates or blades'that are received'between and pressed von opposite sides by the friction-plates on the platen-frame, a springrestored indicator pivoted to a fixed portion of the machine and which is moved in one direction by said bail, and a stop for limiting the movement of the bail in one direction.

6. Ina type-writing machine, the combination of a swinging platen-frame, a platen carried thereby, friction-plates 28 secured directly thereto, a bail comprising a bar 26 and ends 25, blade-like friction devices 27 that extend from and form parts of the ends 25 of the bail and which are received between and are engaged upon opposite sides by the friction-plates 28, and a pivoted indicator that is actuated by said bail. Y A

7. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a swinging platen-frame, a platen carried thereby, a friction device carried directly by the platen-frame, an actuator, a cooperating friction device carried by said actuator, a pivoted spring-restored indicator, a

lever 33 that is operated by said actuator,

and a link 36 that connects said indicator and lever.

8. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a swinging platen-frame, a platen carried thereby, friction devices carried by the platen-frame, a bail pivoted to said platen-frame, said bail comprising a crossbar 26 end pieces 25 and friction plates or blades 27 made from a single piece, said friction-plates y27 being adapted to coperate with the friction devices on the platen-frame, a lever that is actuated by the bail, a springrestored indicator pivoted to a fixed portion of the machine, and a connection from said lever to said indicator.

9. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a swinging platen, an indicator operatively connected to be moved by the swinging movement of the platen, the construction affording a movement of the indicator to the normal or non-indicating position when the platen is in a swung-back position to expose the writing and without releasing the operative connection between the platen and indicator, said operative connection comprising a bail pivoted to the platenframe and having plate-like friction devices that are formed as a part thereof, and coperating friction-plates carried directly by the platen-frame and which receive the platelike devices on the bail between .them and form friction devices for effecting the operation of the bail.

l0. In a type-writing machine, the combination of a platen, a swinging platen-frame carrying said platen, an indicator operatively connected to be moved by the swinging movement of the platen, said operative connection comprising Vparallel friction-plates carried diwith plate-like friction devices that are carried by a pivoted actuator that operates the indicator, the construction affording a movement of the indicator to the normal or nonindicating position when the platen-frame is writing, the movement of the indicatory to the normal position being afforded without releasing the operative connection between the platen-frame and-indicator. p

` 11. In a type-writing machine, the combination ofa swinging platen that is adapted to be shifted for upper and lower case writing, a printing-point indicator that is connected to be automatically moved to the indicating position when the platen is swung back irrespective ofB whether the platen is in the upper or lower .case position, means for affording Aa movement of the indicator to the normal or non-indicating position while the'platen is maintained in a swung-back position to expose the writingand without releasing the connection, said connection comprising a pivoted bail carried by theplaten-frame and having plate-like friction devices formed at rectly by the platen-frame and cooperating in a swung back position and exposes the the'ends thereof, and friction-plates spaced apart and carried directly by the platenframe and between which the plate-like friction devices on the bail are adapted to be received.

12. In a type-writing machine, the combination ofA a swinging platen-frame, a platen carried thereby, an indicator, and operative connections between said platen and indicator and by which the indicator is not moved until the last portion of the swinging movement of the platen when it is automatically moved to the indicating position, said connections comprising a bail pivoted to the platenframe and having plate-like friction devices formed at the ends thereof, and the planes of of which extend fore and aft of the machine, cooperating' parallel friction-plates secured directly to the platen-frame and between which the plate-.like friction devices on the bail are adapted to be received.

18. In a type-writinor machine, the combination of a swinging platen-frame, a platen carried thereby, an indicator, operative connections between said platen-frame and indicator and by which the indicator is -not moved until the last part of the swinging movement of the platen when it is automatically moved to the indicating position and which affords an automatic return movement of the indicator to the normal or non-indicating position at the first portion of the return movement of the platen from the swung-back position, said operative connections comprising a bail pivoted to the platen -frame and having plate-like friction devices formed on the ends thereof and the planes of which extend fore and aft of the machine, and coperating parallel friction-plates secured directly to the platen-frame and between which the platelike friction devices on the bail are adapted to be received.

Signed at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, this 6th day of March, A. D. 1905.

GEO. A. SEIB.

Witnesses:

H. A. AUMENT, JOHN S. l\/lrronnLL. 

